U. of Colorado student Nic Ramos pays tuition with duffel bag of cash

Last week University of Colorado sophomore Nic Ramos walked into the bursar's office in Boulder to pay his out-of-state tuition bill for the spring semester.

Instead of a checkbook or credit card, he carried a duffel bag -- filled with $14,309.51 in $1-bills, a 50-cent piece and a penny.

It was part stunt, part joke, and a way to help university leaders visualize just how much tuition is costing students. Ramos, an economics major from California, told The New York Times student newspaper that it took him two days to withdraw 33-pounds of cash from several banks.

University spokesman Bronson Hilliard told Boulder's Daily Camera that it took three people nearly an hour each to count Ramos' tuition payment. The spokesman added that Ramos' future earning potential with a college degree couldn't fit in a duffel bag.

Here's the Camera's interview with Ramos (and his friend-slash-body-guard):

You can read the full Times story, here. And the Daily Camera story, here.

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